Sawt Falasteen - Trump pushes ahead with US 250th birthday speech after storm delay

Tens of thousands who braved the hottest Fourth of July on record in the capital were ordered to clear the National Mall several hours before the address due to approaching thunderstorms.

While many streamed toward exits, chaos broke out as other attendees refused to leave or tried to surge back in, shouting "charge!" and "Trump! Trump!", AFP reporters said.

But Trump, 80 -- who has sought to stamp his political brand over the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 -- insisted he was pushing ahead with the speech.

"Storms bring luck to whatever the occasion. They also make events a little bit more exciting! We will wait it out, I don’t care if it’s 2:00 O’Clock in the morning,"Trump said on his Truth Social account.

"I will be there no matter what, but the 'what' usually turns out to be a good thing. It's Saturday night, LETS HAVE SOME FUN, even if we are out late tonight."

Minutes later, a White House official and the Freedom 250 organizing group both said that Trump was now set to deliver the much-hyped address on the National Mall at 11pm (0300 GMT Sunday), followed by fireworks.

Police officers had earlier shouted "We are evacuating! Move!" to the thousands of holdouts who had refused to clear the grassy area, ranging from elderly visitors to families with infants.

As they later reassembled metal detectors and prepared to let people back in, national guard troops and Secret Service agents were shouting at people who were pushing on barricades.

Trump had organized hours of military flyovers and an unusual campaign-style political rally for July 4th. The finale was a 40-minute fireworks show touted as the biggest ever.

Temperatures soared to a record 103F (39.4C) in the capital -- an all-time high for July 4 -- as a swath of the eastern US sweltered in a heat wave, with 160 million Americans under extreme weather warnings, according to the National Weather Service.

Heat wreaked havoc on the parades, block parties and barbecues that traditionally mark Independence Day.

"The event and what it means to our country, it inspires you," said Randy Cole, 62, a retired civil servant attending festivities in Washington.

"Experiencing a little heat is a lot less than what a lot of people sacrifice to give us this freedom in this awesome country."

- 'Renewed attack' -

Trump visited the iconic Mount Rushmore monument in South Dakota on Friday for an address under the stony gaze of his legendary predecessors George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Trump said America's identity was under "renewed attack" from domestic "radicals and extremists," saving particular ire for a "resurgence of the communist menace."

It is a theme that the Republican leader has repeatedly hammered home recently, after the anti-establishment left of the Democratic Party won a string of US primary victories.

Deep divisions were on full display Saturday near Washington's Capitol Hill, where masked men -- some of them carrying Confederate flags and others sporting logos of the white supremacist Patriot Front -- gathered to shout, "Reclaim America!"

Pope Leo XIV -- the Catholic Church's first US pope, who has sparred with Trump over his immigration crackdown -- used the occasion to say his vision of the American dream includes "welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants."

- Celebration and reflection -

For Americans, the 250th anniversary offers a moment for reflection as well as celebration.

A Quinnipiac University Poll showed 61 percent of Americans thought the US was not living up to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence -- though most Republicans think it does, and most Democrats think it doesn't.

Outside Washington, inclement weather along the Eastern seaboard forced fireworks in New York to be pushed earlier, and resulted in evacuations at a concert in Philadelphia and a celebration on the Charles River in Boston.

burs-dk/sla

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST